


Teen Vogue can't teach you shit

by Written_prose_things



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Misunderstanding, Pining, deathly hallows non-compliant, teenage typical attention seeking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-21
Updated: 2020-09-21
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:07:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26578060
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Written_prose_things/pseuds/Written_prose_things
Summary: Hermione finally understands why Ron gets irritated when she hangs out with new boys...
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley
Comments: 3
Kudos: 13





	Teen Vogue can't teach you shit

Hermione rushes up the stairs and through the portrait hole with a lengthy explanation. She expects explosive anger. A long rant that will echo in her ears hours after Ron’s finished. Maybe even a row that lasts for weeks. 

Not this. Cold dismissal isn’t something she expects to find in Ron’s portfolio of emotions. 

He’s walking towards the portrait hole as she trips out of it. Hermione steels herself for a shouting match that never comes. 

Ron simply brushes past her, with a snide comment. 

“Save it.”

Hermione deflates. She looks helplessly at Harry, who’s sitting in an armchair by the fire. 

He shrugs, “I don’t know what you want me to say, ‘Mione. It is your fault.”

Hermione waves her hands around, “But I didn’t want this! He just-”

Harry scoffs, “So you did this to make his jealous?”

Hermione looks away. She hasn’t been able to face that truth quite just yet. 

Harry continues, “You’re supposed to be the smart one. How did you not realise that he isn’t like you? If you take something away from him, Ron’s just going to shrug it off and walk away.”

Hermione shrugs, “I didn’t want to make him feel like this.”

Harry turns back to his copy of the evening prophet, “Oh no, but you did. The faster you realise that, the better it’ll be for everyone.”

Hermione likes to think that she doesn’t storm off to her dormitory in a huff. 

-x-

She lies on the bed failing to fall asleep. Her brain keeps replaying the day’s events in her head. 

_Though they’ve only just finished the first month of school, it feels much easier than before, without the fear of Voldemort looming over them._

_So much so that the biggest piece of gossip that even busybodies like Lavender and Parvati can talk about is that Stephen Cornfoot has become quite the Greek god._

_Hermione doesn’t care for it much, she’s too busy._

_That is, until Stephen starts pursuing her. At first, it’s simple. He asks for her notes and hounds her for help like everyone else in their year._

_But it slowly becomes more. They start doing their prefectorial duties together, study in the library in the evenings. Hermione doesn’t even realise the change until Ron points it out._

_The three of them are sitting in the astronomy tower when Ron starts on her. He’s as tactless as usual._

_“So, where’s bigfoot?” He asks while playing with his tie._

_“Excuse me?”_

_Ron rotates his hand in the air, “Your boyfriend. Stinky-foot, Big-foot…” He snaps his fingers theatrically, as though he doesn’t remember the name, “Cornfoot.”_

_Hermione smacks his shoulder with her book, “Shut up. He isn’t my boyfriend.”_

_Ron hums nonchalantly, “Yeah, sure.”_

_“What’s that supposed to mean?”_

_Harry tries to intervene, “Guys, let’s-”_

_Hermione spells his mouth shut. He undoes the spell easily but knows better than to try and mediate again._

_Ron shrugs, “Only that, do you think that we’re stupid enough to believe that when you’ve been canoodling with him in the library.”_

_“Honestly Ron! You’re acting unreasonable!”_

_“Why? Because I expect you to hang out with your real friends?”_

_Hermione scoffs, “He is a real friend. And the truth is that you’re just jealous that I have friends other than you.”_

_Ron shoots up from his seat at the last comment._

_“Just jealous!” He mimics her, “I do have other friends. See if I care the next time you make a useless friend.”_

_Ron storms off. His footsteps echoing as he climbs down the stairs._

_Hermione sighs. Sometimes she doesn’t even realise how even the most throw-away conversations become arguments between them._

_Harry chooses that moment to add his two cents, “Ron’s sort of right. Cornfoot isn’t interested in you for any good reason.”_

_Hermione pins him with a deathly glare and Harry shuts up._

_\---_

_As Hermione waits for Stephen in the library the next day, her eyes fall on a glossy magazine cover. One that she knows has no place in a magical library, with its still pictures and bright plastic cover._

_She puts down her tome on the Goblin Wars of the 1400s and walks over._ Teen Vogue _, it’s title proclaims it to be the best magazine for teens. Hermione vaguely remembers beings jealous of her classmates who got to purchase the magazine._

_She scans the cover and her eyes fall on an absurdly familiar topic._

**_When your guy best friend doesn’t like your boyfriend…!_ **

_She flips to the page and reads through the headings. J_ ealous, Suspicious, Skeptical _. Each word describes Ron’s current mood better than the one before it._

_It’s mostly a fluff piece without any actual advice but an ominous line at the end that states,_ maybe he’s treating the new boy as competition.

_Hermione scoffs and closes the magazine before walking back to her table. But the idea is rattling around her brain now._

_And she’s never been able to let go of an idea without being able to disprove it. She takes a scrap of paper and jots down what she remembers from each time that she and Ron spoke about Stephen._

_\--_

_Ron is very good at evading people when he wants to. Hermione barely sees him for the next three days outside of class and the dining hall, where he maintains enough distance than she can’t approach him._

_In the end, she decides to storm up the boy’s dorm staircase when everyone’s already left for breakfast._

_She shoves the door of their room open and storms in._

_Dean tumbles out of Seamus’ bed with a shout. He covers himself using a spare blanket, “Honestly, woman! Learn how to knock!”_

_Seamus stays asleep through the din, snoring loudly while Neville continues putting together his book bag for the day._

_Harry and Ron are standing between their beds, wrapped in fluffy white towels._

_Hermione points at everyone but Ron, “Out.”_

_Harry Neville and Dean drag their feet but leave easily._

_Ron turns to his bed, obsessively folding his sheets, “I don’t have anything to say to you.”_

_Hermione huffs, “Good because I only want you to listen. You have to know that Stephen isn’t a replacement for you. He’s just a friend, I don’t fancy him at all. So, you have no reason to be insecure.”_

_Ron’s back stiffens as Hermione finishes talking. But he doesn’t turn around to reply._

_“I wasn’t insecure about anything and I don’t care about who you fancy.”_

_Hermione shrugs, even though Ron can’t see it._

_“Okay. But I just wanted to let you know.”_

_Hermione walks down the stairs, knowing that she’s done everything she can._

_\--_

_It takes Ron three more days to approach her. He pulls her away to a deserted hallway when she’s making her way to the great hall for breakfast after having pulled an all-nighter._

_Ron holds her hand between his._

_“You were right.”_

_Hermione snorts even though she knows she shouldn’t. The lack of sleep is slowing down her brain to mouth filter, “Obviously.”_

_Ron rolls his eyes, “Be serious. I was being insecure.”_

_The admission shorts Hermione’s brain. She stares up at the red-head with what must be a gob-smacked expression._

_Ron smiles softly, “I just wanted to tell you. And it’s okay if you don’t feel the same way, but I have to let you know.”_

_Hermione squeezes his hand impatiently._

_Ron laughs nervously, “Right. The thing is, I fancy you. A lot. And It’s okay if you don’t feel the-”_

_Hermione jumps up and wraps her arms around his shoulders, “No! I mean, yess! Ron! I like you too! A lot.”_

_Ron pats her back softly and sets her down._

_His expression is guarded, “Look ‘Mione, you’re running on fumes right now. So I don’t want you to give an answer you might regret. Think it over, let me know by tomorrow.”_

_Hermione huffs, “So then why’d you tell me right now?”_

_Ron shrugs, “Couldn’t hold it anymore, I guess.”_

_\--_

_The entire day, despite her exhaustion, Hermione feels like she’s floating on air._

_The feeling gets cut short quickly. In the one class her takes without Ron and Harry, Cornfoot intercepts her._

_“Hey Hermione, are we still on for today’s study session.”_

_Hermione doesn’t look up from her book, humming non-committally, “I don’t think so, Stephen. I might be busy with something else.”_

_But the boy continues to hover around her. Hermione snaps her book shut and look up at him impatiently._

_“There’s just this one thing I wanted to ask you...”_

_“What?”_

_“Would you like to go out with me.”_

_Hermione shakes her head, “You’re a great guy Stephen, but I don’t like you like that.”_

_Stephen as good as whines, “But you know how nice I am, why don’t you give this a chance.”_

_Hermione internally rolls her eyes. He sounds like the male lead of a romance novel._

_“No thanks, Stephen.”_

_\--_

_But that isn’t the end of her torture. Throughout the morning, Stephen seeks her out between classes and hounds her about simply spending the day with him once._

_Hermione’s mind goes back to the magazine pages. Its articles have helped her before and one of the topics feels like it’s been published especially for her._

_If she uses Stephen’s interest to provoke Ron, then maybe she won’t have to wait till the next day to give her answer._

_She stops in the middle of the hallway and Stephen almost runs into her._

_“If I agree to do this for today, you’ll stop hounding me?”_

_Stephen nods, “Yes, definitely.”_

_Hermione smiles, “Okay. Let’s do this.”_

_\--_

_Hermione ends up spending the rest of her classes with Stephen, even the ones she has with Ron and Harry._

_The glint in Ron’s eyes excites her._

_She walks to the Hufflepuff table with Stephen and sits with his friends. They don’t have any more classes after lunch, so Hermione eats slowly, listening to everyone talk._

_When the bell rings for the end of lunch, Hermione spots Ron and Harry waling out of the great hall. She goes after them._

_When she’s outside the din of the great hall, she calls out to the boys. But only Harry turns around, Ron continues walking up the stairs._

_“Could you please take my bag up as well? I’m going out t the great lake with the Hufflepuffs.”_

_Harry takes the bag without any comment._

_\--_

_The Hufflepuff are a fun lot. Some of them play in the shallow water under the warm afternoon sun. Others sit under the trees._

_After a while, Hannah Abbott summons her lute from her dormitory and starts playing some songs._

_Stephen gets up, brushes the grass stains off his robes and offers his hand to Hermione as other Hufflepuffs swing their feet to the music._

_Hermione takes his hand, feeling silly, but follows his around as he twirls and taps his feet. When the song ends, Stephen moves quickly._

_Hermione only realises what’s happening a second before his lips and on hers and he dips her._

_She struggles out of his grip and shoves her self away. She barely manages to suppress the urge to wipe her mouth._

_“I don’t-”_

_Her breath leaves her when Hermione sees Ginny standing by the entryway of the castle, staring at her. Before Hermione can say anything, the girl turns around and walks inside._

_Hermione quickly mumbles a goodbye and runs after her._

-x-

Lavender and Parvati walk into their shared dorm room after a while. At first, they’re both too busy to notice her. But their gossip dies out when they see her lying on her bed like a lump under the sheets. 

News travels very fast in school. 

Lavender pats her shoulder, “What’s the matter, bub?”

Hermione hates herself for getting teary-eyed, “Ron’s upset with me.”

Lavender sighs, “I was waiting to see when you both would realise your feelings for each other.”

Hermione wipes her eyes and sits up, “Yes well, I always knew-” Parvati snorts from her corner of the room, but Hermione pays her no mind, “-but Ron realised it today, And what I’ve done must have made his rethink his feelings already.”

Lavender laughs, “Silly girl. He can’t rethink his feelings for you that quickly. He loves you.”

Hermione can barely form words, “Really?”

Lavender nods, “Yes. That’s why I don’t understand what you’re doing here. He’s most probably sitting in some corner of the castle, moping and whining. Fix it.”

-x-

Hermione finds Ron sitting on the staircase of the astronomy tower. 

“Hi.”

“What do you want?”

“It was a mistake-”

“Yes, stringing me along as you spent the day mooning over that useless Hufflepuff was a mistake. It was also a mistake for me to think that you were capable of any emotion other than scorn towards me.”

Hermione knows hat she isn’t in any place to be yelling at Ron right now, but his self-deprecation drives her nuts. 

“Ron, stop it! I didn’t mean to upset you! I just wanted to make you jealous!”

Ron stares at her, wide-eyed, “What? Why?”

Hermione flings her hands up, “I’ll let you know when I understand it myself! You were making me wait unnecessarily when I already know that I love you! So I thought, this might make you take action.”

Hermione realises a second too late that she’s just admitted her feelings for Ron unprompted. 

What shocks her even more, is his response. 

Ron bellows out a laugh. 

Hermione smacks his shoulder, “I just admitted my feelings to you! Be nicer about it!”

Ron sobers up and asks playfully, “What? Should I go and kiss someone else now?”

Hermione blushes and looks away.

Ron stands up, “Look ‘Mione, I love you too. A lot. But it doesn’t mean anything if you’re not going to communicate with a level head, okay?”

Hermione nods, “Yes. I’m sorry about that.”

Ron nods and steps toward her, eliminating the distance between them. 

“You’re sure about this then?”

Hermione nods, “A hundred per cent.”

Ron smiles, “Good.” and kisses her softly. 

Hermione slowly realises that Ron’s words are exactly like those from old romance books, but somehow that doesn’t seem to matter as much when Ron’s doing it. 


End file.
